Folding crib and pen



0d. 2, 1934. REHKQPF 1,975,332

FOLDING CRIB AND PEN Filed April 5, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEYS Oct. 2, 1934. 'r. REHKOPF FOLDING CRIB AND PEN Filed April 5,. 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 A TTORNEYS Patented Oct. 2, 1934 ApplicationApril 5, 1932, Serial No. 603,321 6 Claims. (01. -98) This invention relates to a combined baby sleeping crib and baby play or exercising pen and relates more particularly to an independent structure of this nature which is collapsible.

5 The principal object of the invention is to provide a crib and pen which is light in weightand inexpensive and which may be conveniently and very compactly collapsed both as to its width and.

height. .Numerous other objects of .the invention and practical solutions thereof are disclosed in detail in the herein patent specification wherein:

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure l is a diminutive perspective view of the folding crib and pen in its distended position.

Figure 1a is a perspective view of the crib in its folded position.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of one of the upper corners of the crib.

Figure 3 is a. fragmentary, vertical section through one of the upper, double hinged joints taken on line 3-3, Fig. 2.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary perspective of one of the lower corners of the crib.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary, horizontal section through one of the lower hinge joints taken on line 55, Fig. 4.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary perspective of the hinged scarf joint of one of the upper end'rails taken on line 6-6, Fig. 1, the same being in dis-- tended position.

Fig. 6 but showing the end rail lapsed position. I

In the following description similar characters of reference indicate like parts in the several figures of the drawings.

My invention may be embodied in various forms and in cribs of different constructions and the present application is therefore to be regarded merely as one organization which satisfactorily carries out the invention in practice. As here shown the same is constructed as follows:

Arranged vertically at each corner of the crib are the legs 10, each of which is pivoted at its upper end at 11 (see Fig. 2) to the vertical, longitudinal depending arm 12 of a hinge plate 13 which is of angle iron form. The horizontal, transverse arm 14 of each angle iron hinge plate 13 is received. within a medial, horizontal, longitudinal slot or bifurcation 15 formed at each end of each of the upper side rails 16. Each hinge plate 13 is secured to its companion upper side rail 16 by a rivet 17, or otherwise, such a means in partially colof fastening these two members together being obviously very strong.

The horizontal arm 14 of each hinge plate 13 extends inwardly beyond the inner face of its companion upper side rail 16 and is received within a companion slot or bifurcation 18, the latter being formed horizontally and transversely at each end of each upper end rail 20. The latter is pivoted at 21 to said horizontal arm 14 of said angle iron hinge plate 13. To permit each upper end rail 20 to swing horizontally inwardly relatively to its companion hinge plate 13 and upper side rail 16, the same is suitably rounded off at 22 to provide the necessary clearance. In a similar manner each leg 10 is rounded ofi at its upper and longitudinally inner corner at 23 to permit said leg to swing longitudinally inwardly about its pivot 11 and relatively to its companion hinge' plate 13 and upper, side rail 16. Each leg 10 is held in its distended position (as in Fig. 1) by a knuckle brace comprising the sections 24 and 25 pivoted together at 26 and limited in their arcuate movement relatively to'each other by a stop lug 27 formed at the upper inner corner of the one knuckle brace section'24. The latter is pivoted at 28 to its companion'leg 10, while the other knuckle brace section 25 is pivoted at 30 to its companion, upper, side rail 16. To break this knuckle joint, its central pivot 26 is manually pushed downwardly and longitudinally inwardly, whereupon the companion leg 10 may be snugly folded up adjacent the lower face of its companion, upper, side rail 16. I

Each upper end rail 20 is provided intermediately of its length with a hinged scarf joint (see Figs. 6, 7 and 1), the two sections of said rail being pivotally connected together by a hinge 31, and prevented from moving arcuately relatively to each other beyond their straight line or 180 position (as in Figs. 6 and 1) by reason of the bevelled end faces 32 of the scarf joint. When it is desired to set up and use the crib, said two sections of each upper, end rail 20 are held rigidly in their distended, straight line position by a pair of securing rings 33 which are slipped inwardly to" ward the hinge 31 until they assume the position of Figs. 6 and 1. When said rings 33 are in this inner position, each upper, end rail 20 is substantially as strong and rigid as if made of one single integral piece of material. When the'crib is to hinge 31 as a pivot in the manner shown in Fig. 7.

Arranged near the lower ends of the legs .10 are a pair of lower, side rails 34 which extend horizontally longitudinal and lie against the inner faces of their companion legs 10 when the crib is in its distended or unfolded position as in Figs. 1, 4 and 5. Each end of each of said lower, side rails 34 is detachably secured-to its companion leg 10 by a round headed wood screw 35 which is" secured to and projects horizontally and laterally out from said rail, its shank being adapted to be received with a slot 36 formed horizontally and laterally in said companion leg, and the inner fiat face of its head being adapted to bear against the vertical, longitudinal face of said companion leg. To obtain this position of the parts, each leg 10 is provided with an admission hole 37 which is formed parallel to and at the upper edge of the slot 36, and opens thereinto. Thus, to detach the leg 10 of Fig. 4 from its companion, lower, side rail 34, said rail is first moved upwardly until the admission hole 37 registers with the head of the wood screw 35, whereupon the lower end of said leg is moved laterally outward to permit the head of said wood screw 35 to pass through said admission hole 3'7. The knuckle brace 24-25 is then pushed down at a point adjacent its central pivot 26 and the leg swung upwardly and inwardly about its pivot 11 as hereinbefore described. When the crib is being set up (distended), the procedure is, of course, the reverse of that just described.

Each end of said lower, side rail 34 is provided with a horizontal, longitudinal slot or bifurcation 38 which receives the outer end of a flat hinge plate 40. Said plate is secured to its companion lower, side rail in any suitable manner as by a rivet 41. This hinge plate 40 extends inwardly beyond the inner face of its companion lower, side rail 34 and is received within a slot 180. of a companion lower, end rail 20a, the latter being identical with the upper end rail 20 except as to length.

The ficor 42 of the crib is constructed of any suitable flexible sheet material such as close woven canvas or duck, its peripheral portion resting upon the upper surfaces of the lower, side rails 34 and lower end rails 20a, and turned down against the vertical outer faces of said lower, side and end rails and secured thereto by oval headed tacks 43a and 440. respectively. The corners of the canvas bottom or flooor 42 are suitably cut away at 47 (as best shown in Fig. 4) so as to avoid the locating of any tacks adjacent the joint (where splitting of the rails would be likely) and also to permit the crib to be folded without any binding and also for other reasons to be hereinafter described.

The side and end walls 45 and 46 respectively of the crib are constituted of, or spanned with, a single sheet of canvas, the lower edge of which is tacked to the vertical outer faces of the lower side and end rails 34 and 20a by means of the same tacks 43a and 44a which holds the canvas floor 42 in place. The lower portions of said side and end canvas walls 45 and 46 are cut awayadjacent the legs 10 and stitched to form a diagonal hem 47. This renders the construction and appearance very neat, and prevents the canvas from getting pinched in the joints of the main frame. Said canvas walls 45 and 46 are pulled more or less taut between the side tacks 43a and end tacks 4411, prior to the nailing of said tacks. This construction has a very important advantage, i. e., it pulls the canvas walls 45 and 46 inwardly away from the lower ends of the legs 10, so that when the invention is being used as a pen and the child is walking about in said pen, it is prevented from making painful contact with the lower portions of saidlegs 10 by reason of the fact that the can- 1). This condition also obtains at the top of the canvas walls 45 and 46, the canvas adjacent the upper ends of the legs being cut off diagonally and suitably stitched at 48 as best shown in Figs. 2- and 1, and the canvas stretched more or less taut between the upper, side tacks 43 and the upper, end tacks 44, thereby pulling the canvas away from the upper ends of the legs 10 and preventing the child in the crib-pen from making painful contact with the upper portion of said leg 10.

It will be noticed that the lower and upper end rails 20a and 20 respectively are positioned directly above each other when the crib-pen is set up, and also that the tacks 44a. and 44 are both located on the vertical, outer faces of said end rails. This causes the end canvas wall 46 to be vertical except at its ends adjacent the legs 10 (see Fig. 1) where the canvas is pulled away from said legs as hereinbefore described. The side rails 34 and 16 are, however, not in vertical alignment, the outer face of the former being vertically below the inner face of the latter. Hence to make the crib attractive in appearance and also to avoid having the buckle braces 24--25 on the inside of the crib, the side canvas walls are held in vertical position by the lower tacks 43a. which secure said canvas to the outer face of the lower, side rail 34, while the upper edge of said canvas is secured'to the inner face of the upper, side rail 16 by the tacks 43. It will be noticed that the thickness of the legs 10 and upper, side rails 16 is interposed between the canvas sidewalls 45 and their companion buckle braces 24--25. By this construction the child is prevented from making painful contact with said buckle braces.

As is obvious by inspection of Figs. 1 and let, this improved crib and pen can be very compactly folded both as to its height and width, only its length remaining constant. When set up, the crib-pen is very strong and has a low center of gravity. In addition it constitutes an independent structure and therefore does not depend upon any other piece of furniture for enabling its usefulness to be obtained. The child is confined within a yielding canvas wall which is held out of contact with the legs 10 and buckle braces 24- 25. Furthermore, the hinged joints are all very strong and, at the same time, constructed of very simple parts and in such manner as to use to maximum advantage the special qualities of wood and metal.

To fold up this improved crib requires that its form be changed from its unfolded shape as shown in Fig. 1 to its folded shape as shown in Fig. 1a.

This is accomplished by grasping one of the lower end rails 20a (similar to the upper end rail 20 of Figs. 6, 7 and l) and pushing its two rings 33 outwardly beyond the bevelled end faces 32 of its scarf joint. This process is repeated for the other lower, end rail 20a and also for the two, upper end rails 20. All of these end rails are then folded inwardly about their hinge pivots 31. The one end of one of said lower, end rails 20a is then elevated relatively to its companion leg 10 (see Figs. 4, 5 and 1) until the round head of its screw 35 is in alignment with the circular opening 3'7 of said leg. Thereupon the lower end of said leg 10 is sprung outwardly so as to completely disengage the same from said screw 35. The companion knuckle brace 24, 25 is then broyes is held out of contact with said legs (see Fig.

ken", by pushing its central portion downwardly and inwardly. Said leg is then folded up against the lower face of its companion upper, side rail 16 about the rivet 11 as a pivot. This leg folding process is then repeated with the other three legs 10. The whole collapsed crib is then rolled up into the form shown in Fig. lo.

I claim:

1. A folding crib and pen comprising upper sid rails bifurcated at their opposite ends; hinge plates arranged in said bifurcations and secured to said upper side rails; legs pivoted at their upper ends to said hinge plates; upper end rails pivoted at their ends to said hinge plates; lower end and side rails connected with said legs; and flexible sheet material secured to said rails.

2. A folding crib and pen comprising upper side rails bifurcated at their opposite ends; hinge plates arranged in said bifurcations and secured to said upper side rails; legs pivoted at their upper ends to said hinge plates; upper end rails bifurcated at their opposite ends, said bifurcations receiving said hinge plates, and said'upper end rails being pivoted to said hinge plates; lower end and side rails connected with saidlegs; and flexible sheet material secured to said rails.

3. A folding crib and pen comprising legs; lower side rails detachably secured to said legs; lower end rails pivoted to said lower side rails; upper end andside rails connected with said legs; and flexible sheet material spanning said rails.

4. A folding crib and pen comprising upper side rails; hinge plates secured to the ends of said upper side rails; legs pivoted at their upper ends to said hinge plates; upper end rails pivoted at their ends to said hinge plates; lower side rails detachably secured to the lower part of said legs; lower end rails pivoted to said lower side rails; and flexible sheet material spanning said rails.

5. A folding crib and pen comprising legs; lower side rails bifurcated at opposite ends and detachably secured to said legs; hinge plates received within said bifurcations and secured to said lower side rails; lower end rails pivoted to saidhinge plates; upper end and side rails connected with said legs; and flexible sheet material spanning receiving said hinge plates, and the latter being pivoted to said lower end rails; upper end and side rails connected with said legs; and flexible sheet material spanning said rails.

THEODORE REHKOPF. 

